Preparing Christmas - On The North East Coast

The decorating has begun, oh how I love Christmas!

 The shore is starting to ice up with the cold weather & there's no snow yet...it will come but for now it comes as rain & freezing rain. Neighbours along the 117 route highway have started decorating with lights. I've not yet seen that till now & it is a wow factor for me to see such Christmas night beauty shining brightly in the evening. And evening comes so early now, last night the sun set at 4:33pm!
The daylight hours are so short now & I make a point not to miss taking my vitamin D daily.

Bill & Nicholas were here last week & helped me do a lot of the Christmas decorating. :-)

 Rexton takes in the afternoon sun, sitting on top of the wood stove. The fires in the wood stove are done mostly at night so the stove is not hot during the day. Notice her collar? She's the only pet I have that enjoys were a collar...wait till you see her in her Christmas collar!

 Nicholas happily claimed his spot in the greatroom. Wingback chair, slate table, & his laptop!

 Bill & Nick enjoying a quite time after bring more than 1 1/2 cords of wood home & stacking it outside, in the potting shed, & the sun porch, for warm, cozy fires from the fire box. Thank you!

 Boris snoozes in his fleece blanket, thinking 'Baby it's cold outside', he doesn't do winters well.

 I painted Aunt Foda's manger in white, to compliment the nativity figures that I purchased at a yard sale last summer.

 Bill helped me bring my idea to life, having it on top of the entertainment unit! The Restoration Hardware birch lights really add to the nativity scene.

 It's just perfect! Thank you Ann for giving me your mom's manger, it's now an heirloom that will come to life every Christmas!

 I wanted a themed Christmas of red & white, the tree & the nativity scene to be the focal points.
This tree has so many lights, it illuminates  the great room beautifully! And with the nativity scene lights, the focal points are just that!

 I found some of my nutcracker collection & they've been placed on the windowsill. As I unpack over the next couple of years the others will be found too!

 The Christmas Bargello from my Heather Stewart workshop, hangs well here on the stairs landing.

 The beige in the bargello is a perfect compliment to the buffalo check drapes in the greatroom.
I just love how things are coming together here!

 The leather bench has been accented with some Christmas too! Santa's trip around the world, a pillow covering of the old Canadian quarter design, done in Christmas colours, & a rug hooked pillow I purchased a few years back in Florida.

 In back of the wingback hangs a hand appliqued quilt of  red Christmas cardinals, those branches were a lot of work & oh so worth it as Beth Michalitis did her magic with here longarm quilting it.

 I love snowmen at Christmas & Frosty is one of my favourites! He had lost his pipe in the move & I had purchased one for a Santa I wanted to make & haven't yet. So I sewed & glued this one in!

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 It had to be stable as you push the red button in the center of the snow, his mouth moves as he sings 'Frosty the Snowman'! I love watching the old classic with the all the kids over the years, I never of the Christmas animated classics.



 The button wreath has been placed out on the monkey chair.

 What do you do with white buttons? Sew them in a circle, many circles & you have a wreath!

 I sewed in many different buttons for the kids to play an I spy, inside the wreath, stars, anchors, roller skates, & elephants, can be found inside this button wreath.


Sewing These Days....

 I've moved into the kitchen for now as the studio aka mudroom has turned very cold. It was a porch & the bottom is open to the north winds that blow under it. Sew for now it's the invasion of the kitchen! lol

The island counter is the right height for my cutting & the ironing board is placed at the other end of the island where the outlets are.
Christmas sewing continues with the making of the Christmas socks this week. It's time to get he stocking hung! Six are to be made & each one differently so there's no assembly sewing with this project...I just need to start! With my sewing stations in place it will be an enjoyable process.

I keep getting side tracked with other ideas though. I came across this UFO of a shading class that I did with the Miramichi Rug Hookers in Bouchtocuhe a few years back.

The rug hooking fabric is wonderful to work with & the center rose was the shading class. There was so much fabric left over that I used the quilting technique of a square in a square, then formed a circle to make a chair pad for one of the wooden chairs in the kitchen. I randomly used the leftover wood to outline the design & will fill it in with? not sure yet. It will have to wait till the Christmas sewing is over, I'm pleased with the idea so far & it will remain a UFO till next year!

Sew much to do...Sew little time!

It's rather exciting staying here now & I'm going to experience my first Christmas in New Brunswick on the north shore. It has a wind that comes off the water that goes straight through you. The new windows, insulation, & siding have helped cut down the drafts that use to move through this place.
It's cozy with the fire from the wood stove at night & yes, 'Baby it's cold outside'!

Thank you for stopping by for a visit & I hope your warm wherever you are!